White House postpones Paris climate deal meeting

Washington, U.S., (Reuters): A White Housemeeting that was to help determine whether the United States should withdraw from the Parisclimate accord has been postponed , an administration official said on Tuesday.

Some of President Donald Trump's top advisers, including Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt, were scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss how Trump should handle the 2015 climatedeal .

The White House official said that the meeting was canceled due to some of the principals are traveling today.

According to the official, the meeting will be rescheduled, but no date has been set.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Air Force One as Trump was returning from a visit to Wisconsin that the meeting "could be as soon as tomorrow, but I know that they're working on trying to find a time that works for everybody."

The accord, agreed on by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015 and ratified in 2016, aims to limit planetary warming in part by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Under the pact, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.

Trump has said the United States should "cancel" the deal , but he has been mostly quiet on the issue since he was elected last November.

The White House has said it would take a position on the agreement before a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in late May.